authorized but not appropriated, so you've approved the use, you have to go through interdepartmental approvals, if those all come back, you stamp them and hand them -- >> department of building inspections, so the building permits are under the jurisdiction of building inspection, they deal with the routing, we as the planning department comment on in this case for the permit that's not before you, we commented on the use and we said we had a hearing and we approved it for the use, then it goes on to all the other agencies, finally if everyone approves it, it goes to planning and building inspections where they set it as approved, everything's been approved and if someone comes in and pays the fee to pick up their permit, it's issued, the permit that's on appeal today doesn't do a change of use, there's nothing for the planning department to see.

>> i have one question. the permit holder's attorney mentioned that the appellant could have availed themselves of the process after the preliminary use, is that true? >> no, i think there may be a misunderstanding there. people often think they can appeal the planning commission's decision on something like directly to this board or to another board. that's not -- it's a question of rightness again, so the planning commission's decision can only be appealed when the permit is issued, this is a discretionary review which is when the planning commission hear it is discretionary review, they're taking an action on the planning, the planning commission is no different from someone who works like a plan checker who's approving a permit, something else like a knlt use, that's an actual entitlement, that's separate from a building permit.

the discretionary view is different, it's an action on a permit that's then appealable if it's issued. >> very clear, thank you. >> thank you. >> mr. duffy, anything further, any other questions for mr. duffy at this time? no? okay. so, then we are ready for public comment. >> i'd like a show of hands of how many people intend to speak. okay, and do we know if anyone in the overflow rooms intend to speak? >> i believe they do, so i'm going to limit testimony to one and a half minutes. >> can you do one and a half minutes? no? >> okay, two minutes. >> well, can we find out of the people that plan to give public comment, how many people are speak tog the mcd issue which is not before us? i don't think it's relevant. >> well, we have to give them

an opportunity to speak. >> can we get a head count in the overflow rooms, i think that would help me make a determination whether we do one minute or two minutes. why don't we take a two minute break here to make that determination.

(break for two minutes, to resume at 8:06).

>> we are resuming the september 12, 2012 meeting of the san francisco board of

appeals, we are still on item number 7, appeal number 12-070 and we are abto take public comment. >> i understand there are a couple of people in the overflow rooms that would like to present public testimony, on the basis that it's somewhat of a late hour and there were many people showing their hands that wanted to speak and many people nodded their heads when asked if they were speaking on the subject of the permit at issue, people were raising their hands when we asked if they were speaking on the permit not yet issued, so for those reasons, i'm going to limit testimony to one minute per person, those people needing translation services will get two minutes. >> okay, so what i would like people to do who would like to speak is to do two things, one, if you could prepare a speaker card and have it ready to give

to mr. pacheko, that would give us in the preparation of minutes. if you don't have one filled out l -- after you speak and present it to him half, since you're sable to -- you're able, to line up at the far side of the loan, if mr. pacheko, if you point the edge of the desk there, i would like people to line up there, don't be shy. the gentleman in the white shirt leaning against the wall, step forward and everyone behind you, please follow. i want the line to start there, yes, but no one's following you, they're afraid of you, okay. great. >> i'm going to ask one more thing of the public speakers and you are free to speak about whatever subject you want, even if it's not the subject that's

before us but i would like you to limit your comments do the extent of someone else has said, that's just a request on my part. >> good evening, my name is lynette and i am a resident of easier district, i'm a homeowner and a new mom, it's hard to come to city hall with your small child and especially so late in the evening and to wait to speak, i needed to stay here to urge all of you to vote in support of green cross. i had the pleasure of working with kevin read with green cross, i've known him for many years, the green cross was by far the most professional, safe, cooperative and responsive organization and i know that the green cross and

kevin read has talked to residents and easier excelsior and myself and my family, i know if anything comes up in the future, so please vote to uphold the decision, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> good evening, my name's anthony steinberg, i'm here on behalf to have green cross, i live ined the neighborhood we operate right now, to tell you the truth, it makes the neighborhood a better place, graffiti gets painted over, kevin read, he's been like a father figure to me and green cross is a great organization, it is a big part of my life and all i can say that hasn't been said before is just -- yeah.

>> okay, thank you, next speaker, please. >> good evening, my name is robert wit to*n, i've been a resident in san francisco since 1974, i have been in the green cross back in the mission district, i came back here to say they made for excellent neighbors, the street was a little cleaner, they were always overly concerned about double parkers, they make great neighbors, they love paying their taxes, a great addition to any district. thank you. >> thank you, next speaker, please. >> good evening, my name is mara ingrim and i'm a medical cannabis patient here in san francisco and i also helped work on the regulations that we have now to permit dispensaries, and green house -- cross was one of the biggest players on working on these

regulations, they've always been compliant, they've gone more out of their way of any dispensary or delivery service to be compliant with regulations and if anybody is going to be a good player, it's the green cross, i urge you to approve this. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please >> >> my name is jarrod, i would love to speak on behalf of red cross, but it's a demo permit, they want to remodel for a retail space, there's nothing else to talk about today but i would love to be here again when it does come up to talk about the exemplary record to have green cross. er >> may name is wayne while low, i'm in support of having the demo permit issued, that's what we're here for, so green cross has shown through the other permits that has been issued by this panel, so i don't think it should -- it's a no-brainer as

far as i'm concerned and let the green cross go forward and let him be who he is. >> my name is sarah, i sit on the medical cannabis task force and i've been a member with green cross, they have dph planning, reconstructing a building does not affect schools, child cares, with many closures in san francisco, it's had a huge impact to cannabis patients access, two dispensaries closest to me have been forced to close and the issue of high density has been addressed by article 33, by how small the permit and map is, once we expand that map, we're going to see dispensaries more scattered throughout our city,

i encourage you to move forward with this application. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> hello, my name is kim beverly, i'm a resident of the excelsior neighborhood and a parent of a young child, i'm here to support the green cross, i've known kevin read and st staff for the green cross for over five year and is as part of my work as a staffer, i've worked on policy issues regarding cannabis with him and i've been impressed with how they kuktded themselves, they provide a safe and professional environment with those in need, and i welcome them into the neighborhood and i would request you do the same, thank you. >> next speaker, please. er >> my name is melody began none, i'm a patient and an

inhome health care worker employed by the state of california, my patient live near there, they're very compassionate towards the people i take care of. there's not a lot of people in the city that show compassion to people who don't have much like kevin and the green cross, that's all i'd like to say. thank you. >> next speaker, please. er >> my name is laurie and i live right next door to where the mcd or excuse me, the interior soft demo is going to take place, and i have a question about a permit that was suspended on 6-5, and it's also related to the interior soft demo, only ground floor basement and no exterior work and i would like to know why this permit was issued in the first place in addition to the

one you're talking about today, and it was suspended. >> thank you, you should probably direct your question -- >> i don't have an answer for you. >> you miekt -- miekt -- this is public comment. >> yes, this is a public comment. >> i don't have an answer for you so maybe you can take your question to the department that would have an answer for you. >> so, you're not going to take this into a consideration? >> is it a rhetorical question. >> what it is is it's a permit that is for interior soft -- so, they're doing the work in advance before you even can appeal or go forward? you have to look at it, and if you want to look at it here, you can see it. >> there's only one permit before you right now. >> i don't understand. it's okay, you've made your comment. we take all the public comments into consideration.

thank you. >> so, they worked on it and it was suspended. >> yeah, we suspended it. >> we suspend all permits when an appeal is filed. er >> so that you know also, they are over there working because i know the difference between painting and everything else that goes with it, they're using tools to this date, they're still working over there. >> if you have a concern about work being done without a permit, you can direct it to the department of building inspection. >> i did call there. >> okay, next speaker. >> no talking, please. >> please, next speaker. >> commissioners, thank you, my name is david, i'm the president of new mission improvement association, the residence and homeowner's association immediately to the west of the subject property. everybody is here in and speaking because they have an interest that isn't directly before you but for the sake of it, i oppose the issue of the

permit for the demolition and the interior because we're simply avoiding the issue and with that in mind, i would like to f*u for your time and say that i'll be back representing my neighborhood association. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> hi, my name is antonio, i live ined the bay area almost my whole life, i understand what these people are saying, the appellants, but i think the matter is clear now that we're talking about a building permit, we are a legal business that has filed all of our permits correctly and everything should be allowed to go forward from here. >> are you an employee of -- >> yes. >> no employees can speak. no employees of the permit holder. >> hi, may name is roy and i am for the green cross, we all know how important medical marijuana is for patients with

minor illnesses and serious illnesses, i would like them to continue and definitely continue with the demolition plans, thank you very much. >> next speaker, please. >> hi, my name is erik, i encourage you to deny the appeal, i feel like medical marijuana helps out a lot of people and i want to see this dispensary built in that area, i know green cross is a very informative group that has a lot of information to give to other people or other patients so i really encourage you to keep the process going and keep them moving. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> hi, my name is brent and i am a neighbor of the green cross, i've also been a patient with them for the last three months or so, some words i would use to describe them would be professional, efficient and compassionate,

they definitely are dedicated to making a difference in the community and more so even in people's lives. talking to people in the office, they feel free to give suggestions and answer any questions i have every day and they're dedicated, no matter what kind of day they're having to provide the best service, kevin read especially and all the people that work for them, the green cross enables lots of people who wouldn't be with safe access for the medication to get it, to include a walk-in facility would allow them to reach out to that more thousands of live and is enable that many more people safe access to their medication. that's all, thank you. frntion thank you. >> next speaker, please. er >> my name is jonathan and i am a patient of green cross. i wanted to really quickly say thank you to the concerned parents if -- in the room, thank you for being attentive

parents to your kids, it's obviously the appeal comes out of love for your children and from your neighborhood, please know as citizens from san francisco, we know that your children are also our future and we also seek to protect them from any sort of harm. green cross is awesome, they're very professional, discrete and respectful and these things will transfer over to your experience as having them as neighbors. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please >> >> my name is terry, i'm a great grandmother, i've lived in san francisco for 40 years, i'm also a patient of green cross, this has been approved by the health department and planning and this appeal seems to me to be nothing more than harassment and i could say a lot about kevin read and the green cross being very professional and exemplary and those things would carry over and everything i have prepared to say today was regarding

children and medical cannabis dispensaries so i'll save that for the next time. >> next speaker, please. >> hello, my name is adraoe yanks i'm a native san franciscan and i am a medicinal marijuana patient for 12 years now, i think they should be allowed to start the soft demolition they're speaking of. in the time they've been in business, they have consistently demonstrated their compliance with all guidelines and laws set by san francisco. they are community-minded and will be a good mep of the excelsior district, they make medicine for an affordable rate, those who don't have a luxury of being delivered to will have easier access, please overturn their appeal and allow them to start their business. thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> my name is dr. al drij, i've

visitor many medical dispensaries, the green cross is one of the best i've ever seen anywhere. on this specific issue, i believe the green cross should be granted their permit to start the demolition of the inside of the building. as someone else pointed out, this has absolutely no affect on school children or other retail stores or the neighborhood in general. i understand that the work will be done speedily and quietly, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> hello, my name is michelle al drij, good evening, commissioners. one of the things that a lot of the people are going to tell you is they don't believe in medicinal marijuana. i'm living proof. as of january 12th of this year, i was diagnosed with

stage 4 lung cancer, on may 18, after taking cannabis oil for 60 days, i no longer have lung cancer. there is medical use, please let kevin keep the green cross open. it is one of the most wonderful dispensaries here in town and we need to save people's lives. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> good evening, commissioners, my name is david, i am a homeowner for 35 years, a resident of san francisco for 39 years, i'm a medical patient with glaucoma and i have been been a patient with the green cross for the last five years, the last year, we lost over 9 dispensaries and the outer mission neighborhood has none, this dispensary would go along way to provide this for people

close to that area, i urge you to support the green cross, thank you. >> good afternoon, my name is kenneth and i live in san francisco, i am a homeowner and i've lived here for many years, i'm a patient and have hiv disease. i've known mr. read professionally for the past five years, he's been very helpful, he's the nation's oldest and largest cannabis advocacy organization, as a member of the correlation group, i've seen mr. read support our organization but every organization